


Living With A Fugitive

by Monilovely



Series: Blue Blood and Red Skies (English Translation) [1]
Category: Eddsworld - All Media Types
Genre: Blood and Gore, Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Humor, Canon-Typical Violence, Dancing and Singing, Demonic Possession, Developing Friendships, Developing Relationship, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Established Relationship, Explicit Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, M/M, Military Training, Monster Tom (Eddsworld) - Freeform, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, References to Depression, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Harm, Torture, Violence, War, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-14 14:13:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29047452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Monilovely/pseuds/Monilovely
Summary: Tord never intended to drag his friends into the war. But again, he never intended to attack them with a giant robot either.For a long time, the Norwegian tried to keep his identity a secret. Any information his friends had about Red Leader and his role in the war could get them killed. So, in order to protect his friends, Tord kept quiet for as long as he could.But when the Red Army takes over England, there’s no hiding anymore.Now he not only has to worry about his duties as Red Leader and the war, but his friends on the frontlines as well.They could get through this, they had to. It wasn’t a choice.
Relationships: Edd/Eduardo (Eddsworld), Patryck/Paul (Eddsworld), Tom/Tord (Eddsworld)
Series: Blue Blood and Red Skies (English Translation) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2131029
Kudos: 28





	1. Moving out

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [Vivendo Com Um Fugitivo](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22817920) by [Monilovely](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Monilovely/pseuds/Monilovely). 



> We finally have a translation for this! I'm so excited! I hope you all like reading this story as much as I like writing it!
> 
> Thank you so much to [truculentTruncheo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/truculentTruncheo) for beta reading this!  
> Read their fics guys, they're really good!
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

A song echoed through the small apartment as Edd hopped around to finish packing. It was almost like a ritual at this point, he'd put his stereo on some radio station and let the music roll every time he had to do some boring task. And what more boring task than packing a suitcase?

He might not like the songs that played, but at least having some music would help time go by faster. Or at least that's what he thought. He didn't know exactly how long he’d been packing that suitcase. Technically, he didn't need to pack anything, since Tom's apartment was literally next door, but one of the fun parts of being away from home is the annoying ritual of packing.

Does that make sense? Probably not. But when has anything in Edd’s life made sense?

Once he finished packing, the boy in the green hoodie walked calmly to the radio and turned it off with a click. Even though he was calm, he was, actually, late. Matt had sent him a message about half an hour ago saying he arrived at Tom's and had dibs on the best bed. Soon after, he received a message from Tom, through Matt's cell phone, denying he would share his bed with any of them.

It’s strange, wanting to invade their friend’s apartment even though they live next door to each other, but they had been doing this for several years already, always under the excuse it was to strengthen their friendship, and, at this point, Tom had already thrown in the towel and left the door open for when his crazy friends wanted to invade his privacy. They would end up entering one way or another, anyway.

They saw something fun in making the one in the blue hoodie and nonexistent eyes angry. They didn't know exactly what it was, but just seeing his scrunched up face and pout made them laugh like a pair of four-year-old kids.

Now no one else could judge Tord for provoking him the way he did.

Once he finished packing, Edd prepared to leave the house. It would be a long four-step walk to his friend's house and he didn't want to waste any more time than he had already lost. Besides, he had to unpack his things and get organized, so they could each have their own space inside Tom’s tiny apartment.

He left and slammed the door behind him, the sound echoing unnecessarily loudly through the corridor, and followed to Tom's apartment.

“One... Two... Three!” he counted his steps joyfully, before stopping in front of the wooden door and knocking, not waiting for an answer before simply invading the place.

The apartment was exactly as they left it the last time they were there: a mess. There were clothes spread all over the floor, dirty dishes in the sink and probably nothing in the refrigerator. It was just the way Edd liked it.

Having heard the sound of the door closing, a guy with two colored sweaters and a mirror in hand walked up to Edd, smiling from ear to ear as he looked at his friend.

“Edd, you're here!”

Before Edd could do anything, Matt threw himself in his arms, knocking them both on the floor and making Edd hit his head against the hard floor. His arms wrapped around his neck so hard that he could barely breathe.

“Why are you so happy? I didn't even take that long!”

The desperation on Matt's face as he walked away from the hug, though somewhat enigmatic, gave the brunet a little idea of what might be happening.

“They're fighting again, aren't they?”

“It's been two hours, Edd! Two hours! My beautiful head can't stand the screaming anymore!”

It was nothing new to anyone in the apartment that Tom and Tord were fighting every five minutes. If nobody interfered, they could stay like that for days on end, throwing insults in each other's faces. How those two could stand to be in the same room without killing the other and still maintain a stable relationship was the greatest mystery of the universe.

Edd rolled his eyes and stood up from the ground, patting Matt on the head as a consolation for the torture he suffered. As always, he was left to solve that fight. Not that he wasn't used to it, he had been in charge of separating all the fights since those two met.

The apartment was much smaller than his old house, which was destroyed by Tord a few years ago, so it was cramped and more complicated to walk through. The only advantage he had was that finding Tom was much easier, especially when he was screaming.

Even so, Edd couldn't wait to move to a bigger house. It would be like the old days again. Only without giant robots and betrayals this time, he hoped.

After a few years of living in those tiny apartments, and some problems involving two certain people – you probably already know who they are – the gang managed to raise enough money to buy a new house, preferably in a place without those boring and annoying neighbors.

Edd still didn't understand how anyone could like diet coke. That shit tasted like... Well, shit!

Anyway, Edd guided his narcissistic friend to the couch, once again caressing his head, and left to fetch Tom, which, in the end, proved to be a lot easier than just going to the next room, because the one in the blue went through the passage right on time.

“I talk, talk, talk, but he never listens to me. Unbelievable!” he grumbled while hitting the phone hard on the counter, regretting soon after. “Ah! Rebecca!”

While he tried to salvage his phone, Edd took a deep breath to approach his friend very carefully.

“Hey, uh, Tom?”

“Ah, hi, Edd.” he greeted him with a smile, which quickly dissipated when he saw the suitcase standing in front of the apartment. “Are you sure you're only taking that? You know we can't go back to get anything else later, right?”

The one in the green hoodie raised his finger and opened his mouth to talk, but Tom's last line stole all the words from him. He felt as if he was forgetting something. That situation was too strange for his liking, and he was even afraid to ask about it.

“Should… I have brought something else? I mean, I didn't pack much, but we won't be here more than a week.”

Tom's chin almost fell to the ground. God, his friends were so stupid!

“Where did you two nutsacks get the idea you're sleeping here?” he yelled.

Matt, who was quiet on the couch so far, raised his head and decided to meddle in the conversation.

“Oh, I heard you and Tord say something about bags last week.”

“Then he sent me a message saying we were spending some time in his apartment, like we always do.” Edd completed.

The one in the blue hoodie slapped his forehead. Yep, something was definitely wrong.

“The bags are not for sleeping here! They're for us to move! That's why I was fighting with Tord, he didn't pack yet!” he explained between screams, so fed up with their shit.

Matt and Edd’s mouths made an “o” in understanding. Maybe now, finally, the information had entered their hollow heads.

“It makes more sense now,” Edd pointed out. “And you’re pissed because Tord is busy?”

“Yeah, he says he's busy with the _Red Army,_ ” he quoted with his fingers and rolled his eyes. “I don't have the slightest idea what that is and, in fact, I don't even want to know. As long as nobody dies or gets arrested, everything's great.”

As much as Tom tried to hide his anger behind sighs and drinks from his bottle, Edd didn't need much to read him, after all, they had known each other for many, many years. To tell the truth, finding Tord in Tom's apartment was much rarer than the boys expected. Now that Tom and Tord were dating, they expected to see them spending more time together, even if it was fighting, but now, most of the fights were over the phone and Edd and Matt only saw Tord a few times during the night, when they broke into Tom's house to steal something. And it was easy to see how this bothered their hollow eyed friend, not only because they were a couple, but also because, apparently, they didn't know what the hell Tord was doing. All the more reason for Edd to be surprised that they were still together.

He turned, apprehensively, to Matt while Tom picked his phone up and dialed a number on the almost cracked screen.

“Change of plans. Edd didn't pack his things either. Can we change the... What? What button?” He stayed silent for a minute, listening to the answer on the other side of the line. Matt turned to Edd, his look asking if he knew what was happening. He had no idea. “Under the... I found it. What the fuck does it do? ... I won't push a button if it’s attached to something you made! You wanna kill me with another couch, is that it?” Tom sighed after a few more seconds of silence. “Ok, fine. But, if I die, I'll come back to pull your feet and drag you down with me!”

Something clicked under the countertop and, just like magic, all the items in the apartment packed themselves, falling neatly and without any fault into cardboard boxes.

The three friends stared, astonished. They knew Tord was good at building and inventing things, but programming an entire apartment?! They were more than amazed.

Tom carefully put his cell phone back on the counter after finishing the call, equally amazed.

“... Uh... Your things are also packed,” he said, his voice low, stuttering between words.

An uncomfortable silence embraced them for an instant, the moment necessary for their worm brains to process what happened, and they soon ran to take everything to the first floor. These were going to be some long elevator rides.

* * *

The neighborhood where they were going wasn't so different from the one they used to live in some years ago. It was comfortable, had a good amount of green areas, not much noise, and quiet neighbors, something they didn't have in their old place. This time, they expected to have a little more tranquility and not be constantly attacked by some catastrophic event, like a zombie apocalypse, vampires, radiation, or giant robots.

The house itself was not so different from the first one they shared, it only seemed bigger from afar, which was a bit strange since things, when seen from afar, should seem smaller, not bigger.

“This is the place, right?” Edd asked Tom, who had the map in hand.

The hooded man nodded and signaled to stop at the side of the house. At first glance, it wasn't that different from their old house. It had two floors - as indicated by the two vertical rows of windows - and certainly had more than two bedrooms - indicated by the width. It didn't seem like such a bad place to live. It was already bigger than their apartment, that was a start.

They took the cardboard boxes out of the car and entered the new house in a line, only to discover that the place was much bigger than it seemed from outside. The place that was to be the living room, along with the kitchen, was vast and had enough space for everything they needed, and even more. The doors at the end of the available space indicated two bedrooms on the first floor, while the staircase on the far right of the living room was the way to the next floor. It was _definitely_ bigger than their old house.

“The upstairs bedroom is mine!” exclaimed Matt as he ran towards the stairs.

The remaining two looked around, stunned. They had a certain notion of what the house would look like, since Tord had told them it was big enough for all four of them, but they didn't realize they would have that much space.

“Holy chocolate on an onion pizza! This place is huge!” Tom exclaimed.

“I didn't know we had so much money to buy such a big place... The room in the corner is mine!” Edd shouted and ran to the new room, leaving Tom alone in what would later become the living room.

At the end of the day, the question about the size of the house was left aside, in favor of decorating it, which ended up turning more crowded than they expected when they arrived. There was still room to walk around freely, but, just as they didn't consider the size of the house, they didn't consider how many things they had to unpack. There was less than when they moved for the first time, but it was still a lot, enough to fill all the shelves in Matt's room - which the boys affectionately called the junk room.

And, during all day long, no sign of Tord.

Without much to do, the boys decided to explore the area and walk around the neighborhood, taking advantage of the moment to catch up on the conversation from five minutes ago. They didn't see any signs of life from the neighbors or anyone else nearby; it was very quiet. There weren't many stores along the streets, just more houses, resembling a gated community, but it's not as if their old house was near a mall, and they hadn’t been walking for that long.

“I'm starting to like this place.” Edd commented as he looked around. “You know, I like our adventures, but it's good to be able to stop somewhere quieter to relax for a change.”

 _It’s not gonna last,_ Tom bet inside his mind. As calm as things could be for now, something would certainly fall from the sky to drag them to another dimension or something like that. It was _always_ like that.

“Look who’s the new neighbors now,” a familiar voice mocked, right next to the group of friends.

And the peace was over.

The sound of a spanish guitar sounded from a distance to announce the presence of Eduardo, one of their former neighbors from when they lived together, in the first house. Although years had passed without seeing each other, he wasn’t very different. He still wore the same clothes: green blouse with long sleeves, brown pants and sneakers, and had the same appearance, except that his hair looked longer, reaching the height of his chin.

“Eduardo? What are you doing here?” Edd asked.

Edd's cheap - and more Spanish - copy clicked his tongue, as if the answer was obvious, and, in fact, it was.

“I live here, you idiot. We couldn't keep the house after Jon died, so we sold it and bought this one. We've been here for about three years.”

The boys were silent for an instant, feeling Jon's death. Even though they weren’t friends, he seemed to be the quietest of the group, just a bit annoying and idiotic, which made Eduardo himself take out his anger on him.

Edd scratched his neck and opened a nervous smile.

“And... how are you doing? We just moved in, so we don't know much about how things are around here.” He started with some small talk, trying to break that horrible atmosphere that was forming between them.

Eduardo shrugged and kept his hands inside his pocket.

“It's normal here, very quiet. At least until you start doing some shit, as you always do. I swear, if one more of my friends ends up dying, you will learn what real pain is.” He took a cigarette out of his pocket and carried it to his lips, while the other one was looking for the lighter. “Keep your little Norwegian friend away from my house.”

Edd still tried to explain the situation they were in, and that Tord no longer had the giant robot, nor wanted to kill them, but Eduardo had already gotten back inside, completely ignoring their existence.

He couldn't lie, he felt very bad about everything that happened years ago. Jon was dragged into a fight that wasn’t his, and ended up paying dearly for something he didn't do and wasn't his problem. He was still seen out there as a ghost, but it wasn't the same thing. It wasn’t his fault, but Edd couldn't help feeling like it was.

He took a deep breath and took a step towards his rival's house, but was stopped by Tom, who put his hand on his shoulder and shook his head. They were in no position to interfere in this situation, he knew it. It wasn’t their place.

Sighing, they resumed walking, deciding they would stop somewhere to eat.

The rest of the night wasn’t so enjoyable. They did what they always did: they ate, talked, were attacked by a demon, and the snack bar where they were blew up. They barely had time to finish the fries they asked for when everything happened, and returned home completely exhausted and dirty with leftovers from the wreckage of the building.

Matt immediately went up to his room to restore his beauty, while Tom and Edd decided to sit on the newly placed couch and watch some TV, eating the rest of the food they brought from the refrigerator. They didn't intend to stay awake for long, after all, they were tired from moving in and the disaster that was the dinner, but a little movie would be good to forget about the stress.

During the movie, Edd noticed Tom turning his phone on and off several times, as if he was expecting something, but, other than that, everything went normally. Matt didn't come out of his room, probably having fallen asleep after the bath. Strangely enough, although not so many exaggerated things happened, they were more tired than usual. Usually, Matt would fix himself a night snack before going to bed - which Tom always complained about, saying he would get a stomachache.

“Hey, Tom, I think I'm going to bed now, okay?” said the one in the green hoodie, getting up from the couch.

Tom just mumbled without taking his non-existent eyes from the phone’s screen, his fingers smashing letters on the keyboard.

Curious, instead of going to bed, Edd turned around the sofa, crossing his fingers that his friend was distracted enough not to notice the noise of his steps. He stood on the backrest and leaned on his arms to see what was happening. Luckily, the light didn't cast a shadow on the cellphone, otherwise, he would have surely been caught.

He had a little difficulty seeing what was attracting Tom's attention to the device, whose attention didn't leave it even after he stopped typing, but he managed to see enough from the screen to get a grasp on what was happening.

The contact name, "Commie,” already showed that he was talking to Tord - which already explained the attention he was investing in that conversation. Due to the speed Tom was typing previously, they had been talking for some time, probably arguing, a fact that was sustained by how the conversation followed:

> **_Commie:_ **
> 
> _My job is getting up to my neck! I can't leave everything aside just like that!_
> 
> _Okay._

One didn't have to be a genius to know that Tom was pissed off at this. When he answered with "okay," it meant that he had gotten tired of arguing and simply accepted what fate threw in his face. It wasn’t a good sign.

> **_Commie:_ **
> 
> _Tom please don't get mad_
> 
> _This isn’t my choice! Do you think I'd want to be stuck here writing papers instead of spending time with you and Edd and Matt?_
> 
> _I don't know._
> 
> _You've been really hyper fixated into this work recently_
> 
> _You could marry it and no one would tell the difference_
> 
> **_Commie:_ **
> 
> _I know I know_
> 
> _Things are really tough here_
> 
> _That's why I want to finish this fucking thing as fast as I can_
> 
> _That way, I can get home and not need to come back if something happens_
> 
> _It's better than having to leave every five minutes to solve something_
> 
> _Hum_
> 
> _I understand_

He took a lot of time to send this message, which meant that the one in the blue hoodie was probably evaluating his options, choosing to go through the rational way instead of the impulsive one.

> **_Commie:_ **
> 
> _I promise tomorrow I can get there early and see how the house looks_
> 
> _I’ll only have to come back in 4 days due to a meeting_
> 
> _We could enjoy the time and go out_
> 
> _Just the two of us_

Another pause between one message and another, until Tom finally answered:

> _Just the two of us?_
> 
> **_Commie:_ **
> 
> _Jeg lover_
> 
> _I promise_

And that's as far as Tom had typed. The rest of the conversation was happening live before Edd's eyes, who was more and more interested in the drama between his two friends.

The one in the blue hoodie let out a heavy sigh and went back to hammering his fingers on the keyboard, without suspecting the privacy of the conversation was being violated.

> _I’ll think about it_
> 
> _Don’t think you got away with it! I’ll keep an eye on you, Commie._
> 
> **_Commie:_ **
> 
> _Yea, I know_
> 
> _I'll talk to you tomorrow then?_
> 
> _Uhum_
> 
> _I'm going to bed now_
> 
> _I’m tired af and even alcohol isn’t helping_
> 
> **_Commie:_ **
> 
> _Fuck, the day must have been really fucked up_
> 
> _Tell me everything about it later_
> 
> _Ok_
> 
> _Good night commie_
> 
> **_Commie:_ **
> 
> _Good Night Jehovah_
> 
> _Jeg elsker deg_

Edd, who didn't understand shit of Norwegian, had no idea what he just said. And, to help him even more, he wasn’t at the right angle to see the smile that crossed Tom's lips.

> _I love you too_
> 
> _See you tomorrow_
> 
> **_Commie:_ **
> 
> _See you tomorrow min kjære_

Tord's contact changed from "online" to "last seen in", which meant he had already left his phone. Another sigh escaped Tom's lips as he got up from the sofa - almost hitting his head on Edd's, who, luckily, deviated in time - and, locking the phone screen, disappeared into the darkness of his room.

Whatever it was that kept Tord so busy was clearly affecting Tom's mood. As much as he avoided saying it out loud, his boyfriend's absence _did_ affect him. Tom could be very clingy with the people who were important to him, just like he was with Edd himself a few years ago, but he had gotten out of his jealous phase a long time ago.

Amongst all his friends, Edd could say with almost certainty that Tord was the one who could understand Tom the most. After the hostility of the communist's return - in this case, the second time - passed, they started to get along very well, spending much more time with each other than with him and Matt.

Going out of a relationship in which you spend 90% of your time with the person to a relationship in which you hardly see each other is a huge contrast! No wonder Tom has been so cranky recently. He missed his boyfriend. In fact, everyone missed having Tord around, but because those two were, obviously, closer, he ended up feeling the absence more than Edd or Matt did.

The brunette would probably also be grumpy and angry if he were in his place, he couldn't deny that.

While drowning in his thoughts, Edd couldn't turn his eyes from Tom's door, which closed as if nobody had passed by, sparking a twinge of pain in his chest. He wondered if there was anything he could do for his friend to make him happier in those moments he was so crestfallen. Or maybe he could do something to get Tord out of work more often.

As much as he liked to annoy Tom and make him angry, as well as all his friends and enemies, he wasn't insensitive enough to the point of ignoring someone when they were really upset.

That night, while going to bed, the gears spinning in Edd's creative brain started to synchronize to form a plan to help his two attention-neglected friends.

The days that would follow wouldn't even come _close_ to being boring.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love these boys, they're my whole world!
> 
> The beggining's gonna be a liiittle slow, with more focus on the boys' daily lives. But I think I speak for all my portuguese-speakers and google-translate pals who read the original portuguese version when I say: Enjoy This. It won't last for long. Our boys are in for a wild ride!
> 
> See Ya~


	2. Third time's the charm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tord finally comes home and reunites with his pissy boyfriend.

The next morning fortunately began without any attack from strange creatures or armed bandits, much to Tom's happiness. He was still tired from the events of the previous night, and, to make matters worse, he woke up with a headache. Today was the perfect day for the world to settle down and shut its mouth for at least twelve hours. 

The sun barely shone outside the window, since it was still around six o'clock in the morning, that is, early as hell. Why was he already waking up? He had no idea, he just knew he needed to have a drink, alcoholic or not, and then he’d either try to go back to sleep or find something better to do.

Tom rolled out of bed, naturally falling on the floor due to gravity, and went to the bathroom to do his morning hygiene, which could prove useless if he _did_ decide to go back to sleep. Usually it wasn't long before he was ready for the morning, but, on that particular day, he decided to enjoy the hot shower for a while longer, since now that they lived in the same house again, Matt would soon start using all the hot water in the house for his "beauty showers". He ended up leaving just twenty minutes later, having almost fallen asleep three times during the bath, but managed to complete his goal: take long enough to not go back to sleep. Did he take long enough so the water bill would be expensive? Not if the others didn't take as long as he did, but if they did, and it turned into a routine, then they would have a problem. 

After finishing, changing, and making the bed, he took his cellphone off of the charger and headed quietly to the kitchen, having lost all sleepiness under the hot water drops. Matt and Edd were still asleep, which meant Tom would have peace in the house while he ate, as long as he made as little noise as possible. He picked up a small bottle of Smirnoff in the fridge and, after a single sip, put it back. Past experiences showed him that it wasn't a good idea to drink too much before eating. Matt still blamed him for losing his best pair of shoes.

While sitting at the kitchen table with a small sandwich in hand, made with what was left of the food they brought from their old apartments, he unlocked his cellphone to watch the news without waking the others, and was surprised to see he received two messages from Tord while he was asleep.

> **_Commie:_ **
> 
> _Just left, I’ll get there in about 2 hours_
> 
> _Good morning, by the way_

Tom didn't try to contain the smile that pulled on his lips; he didn't see any problem, since Edd and Matt were sleeping. The message was sent an hour ago, which meant even less time to wait for his workaholic boyfriend to come home. 

He wouldn't lie and say he didn't miss him. Having been in a relationship for over two years, they had been hiding their feelings from each other for a long time and everyone was very grateful that it was over. Tom and Tord were simply _unbearable_ when they got mad at each other instead of just sorting things out and talking like two normal people. They stayed in this "you fucked up, but I won't tell you what you did" cycle for a longer time than necessary, almost driving Edd crazy, since he was usually the one responsible for stopping the fights. 

There was only one thing worse than when Tom and Tord fought: when they ignored each other. There were several cases where one pretended the other didn't exist, sometimes for more than a month, which was part of the reason why Edd was surprised with them still being together. It was hell on earth: silent and uncomfortable car trips, the group would no longer go out together, for one of them was always denying the invite to avoid the other, Matt and Edd would be forced to play psychologist for both friends, and sometimes even have to choose sides. 

Those were dark times. Of course, Tom and Tord didn't have a perfect relationship now, but they improved a lot, if you consider how they were when they started dating. It was a good thing, because they were sure their other friends couldn't stand all the whining and tantrums anymore.

Back to the present, Tom locked the screen without answering and left his phone aside, turning his attention to his sandwich. If Tord was going to come back in such a short time, the best thing to do was to enjoy the quiet minutes he had left before the two of them inevitably woke up Edd and Matt.

As his eyes wandered through the open concept kitchen, directly connected to the living room, Tom felt a hint of nostalgia. It had been so long since he and the boys had shared a house that it seemed like a strange dream. The apartments were next door to each other and they annoyed each other all day, every day, but it wasn't the same thing. They hadn’t been roommates anymore, they were neighbors, and that in itself carried a good amount of weight. They no longer had the right to meddle in each other's lives as they always did, they no longer woke up to something happening or to some predetermined plan by the trio. They didn't have breakfast together, they didn't have lunch together, going out together was more complicated than before, and things just didn't seem right, as if someone had changed a tiny detail and the whole atmosphere of the group changed altogether in some sort of butterfly effect. It could be something good or something bad, depending on the point of view, but Tom would admit that he was more used to how things were before. Maybe it was because the bills came out cheaper, but he couldn't say with 100% certainty.

A burp escaped from his mouth once he finished eating, warning him that it was time to leave the nostalgia session and come back into the real world. After cleaning the crumbs that fell on the table, he made a quick stop in his room to fetch a book he was reading. Tom didn't have much of a habit of reading, but sometimes it was a pleasant way to pass the time, and with all the calm he had in the neighborhood, he thought he could enjoy the peace and silence and spend some time alone outside the house, in contact with nature, or whatever kind of nature the neighborhood could offer, anyway.

He left the house, making as little noise as possible to not wake the others, choosing a place close to the fence to settle down and open the book on the marked page. The place was quiet, only a few birds were singing in the nearby trees, a soothing and relaxing sound that only helped Tom to concentrate more on his book. 

That is, until a failed attempt to scare him off.

“Boo!” Jon shouted, or rather, his ghost did, staring deep into Tom's black eyes. “Did I scare you?”

“Not one bit,” Tom answered, getting back to his book once again.

“Aw…” The ghost bowed his head, discouraged, and moved away from Tom. “I thought it would work! I always get Eduardo with that one!”

Tom rolled his eyes without taking his attention from the story. Having Jon keep him company was something that bothered him, but not enough to make him do something. He just kept concentrating on the continuous and fluid words between the pages and ignored the ghost’s presence.

“You know, I had no idea you were moving here. Really creative of you to choose the same place as us.” He laughed, getting absolutely zero answers from Tom. But who said it would stop the ghost from continuing talking? “Anyway, at least you'll like it here. It's so quiet, it's kinda _dead._ ” Once again, he was ignored. “You're not very talkative, are you?”

“You don't have a place to go, do you? Go haunt your friends' house or whatever.”

Jon pouted and floated to Tom's side, looking at his book over his shoulder. He didn't say much after that, he just floated around him in an attempt to get his attention. Things were probably boring at his house and he simply decided to take a walk to find some poor mortal soul to annoy. And what was worse: it was working. Tom even lost track of how much time he spent distracted with the ghost noises his fake counterpart made with his mouth.

“Can you stop?”

“I just want to read!” he whined, but was ignored again by Tom, who literally sunk his face into the book. “You know what? Forget it then! You're very boring and annoying! I should’ve known. Eduardo says that you're a bunch of-”

The ghost suddenly shut up, which would have been a relief for Tom, if it hadn't been for the way he shut up. It was so sudden that it seemed like he had died again. When he looked up to check what was going on, he realized Jon had disappeared, which was strange, if you considered that he had never done this before, not without at least finishing saying what he wanted to say. Strange.

Tom was about to get up and check if his cheap copy wasn’t hiding behind the fence to give him a scare for revenge when he saw a red car parking in front of his house.

His heart palpitated in his chest, and for a moment he thought he was having a heart attack, so loud were its beats. But could you blame him? The last time he checked, it didn’t take five minutes for an hour to pass, or maybe he had read more than he realized on first thought.

He got up so fast the book fell off his lap, the marked page getting lost among the others.

“Ah, damn it!” he grumbled, quickly bending down to collect the book from the dirt.

From inside the car, Tord couldn't help but laugh at how stupid his boyfriend was.

“Classic stupid Tom.” He laughed in a low voice as he kicked the door open, almost ripping the hinge off. A great triumphant entry that ended with the Norwegian screwing his foot on the belt and falling flat on hot asphalt. _“_ _FAEN!”_

He slammed the door angrily, cursing the damn car that he could barely walk straight. He spent so much time trying to control his damn foot, as to not step too much on the gas, ran over some guy, just for this damn car to turn against him and ruin his perfect entrance. It seemed that Tom wasn’t the only stupid one around here.

At least now they could be stupid together.

After collecting his book from the ground, Tom turned towards the car, where Tord still cared to try to disguise the uncomfortable situation of having fallen on his face in the middle of the street. It felt like weeks had passed since they last saw each other, even if it had only really been seven days.

“Nice entrance,” Tom teased, stopping next to the bumper. “Stayed out so long you forgot how to take the seat belt off?”

The Norwegian rolled his eyes and kicked the door closed, releasing air between his teeth to disguise the smile that pulled on his lips.

“Very funny, Jehovah. And here I thought you missed me.”

And he had. By God, how he had missed him, from his sarcastic smile to the way he sharpened his accent just because he knew it was the best way to provoke him. He missed every little piece that belonged to him. He even felt bad thinking about how they would only get to four days together before Tord had to go back to god-knows-where.

Tom simply rolled his eyes and kept his hands in his pockets.

“As if you don’t know me, Commie. I have more to do than worrying about where you are, what you're doing or how long it will take you to get back,” he said in an obvious tone of irony, to which Tord answered by raising his eyebrow and turning his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. Are you gonna keep counting minutes or are you gonna welcome me properly?”

Tom suppressed a laugh with the corner of his mouth and approached him, gently placing his hands on the norwegian’s cheeks and pulling him into a kiss. Tord’s arms, both mechanical and from flesh and blood, wrapped around Tom’s waist, pulling him closer and deepening the contact as Tom reciprocated by hugging his neck.

It was weird to feel nostalgia during the kiss. No matter how long it had been since they last saw each other, it wasn’t common for Tom to feel as if, instead of just one week, a year had passed without seeing him. Not that he was complaining, the feeling was incredible. Kissing Tord was like coming home.

They broke contact for a brief second, only to, in the heat of the moment, get lost in each other's gaze and seal one more kiss, this one more lasting more than the previous one. 

Tord's hands traced Tom's back as if they wanted to map the skin under the fabric. The robotic arm might not be able to feel precisely what it touched, but he would forever remember the feeling of touching his lover with both hands. 

Their mouths moved in synchrony, already used to each other and experts in everything that pleased the opposite. Tongues soon came into play, sliding over each other in a bipolar dance – calm and, at the same time, full of despair. They wanted to claim every part of the other as soon as possible, as an emperor conquers the neighboring lands. 

Ah, how they had missed that. They could spend nights awake just maintaining the touch they hadn't had for a long time, to remember forever those sweet sensations that never got boring or tiring. All they wanted was to be able to keep the other forever in their arms, losing consciousness of the world that was beyond the warmth of their bodies and the fiery passion that burned deep within their chests.

Unfortunately, they were in a public space, and people wouldn't like seeing a couple almost swallowing each other in the middle of the street, so they were bound to break free once again.

Tord wiped the thread of saliva that dripped from his lower lip with his thumb, keeping a smile on his face as he felt Tom's thumb caressing the scars on the right side of his face, which went from his chin to almost eye height.

“Holy cabbage in a soup pan, I missed kissing you.” Tom confessed, leaning both hands on his shoulders. “Next time you’re gone for a whole week, let me know so I can at least prepare mentally.”

Tord laughed and caressed his boyfriend's cheeks, squeezing them between his palms.

“You’re the boss, Jehovah. For the next four days, I’m all yours.”

_It's not enough,_ he wanted to complain, but knew Tord would reply with something stupid like "Then you don’t even get four days," just to make him angry. So Tom, simply accepting the situation, took his boyfriend by the hand and led him towards the house.

“Looks like you're moving in again,” Tom joked as he realized the situation they were in.

“Third time’s the charm,” Tord replied with a smile. “Are the others awake yet? It's still seven in the morning.”

“Nah, I doubt it. They'll only wake up by two in the afternoon.” He opened the door and left the book on the stool next to the door. “Make yourself at home because, in case you haven't noticed it, it's our home now.”

Tord let out a laugh and looked at the conditions inside the house. Everything was just the way he planned. Luckily the quartet had money to buy everything they needed. He only hoped that nothing would happen that would destroy the place once again. At least, if it did, it wouldn't come from him. 

“Let me guess, there’s no food left.” Judging by his boyfriend's face, he was right.

“Edd can buy more food later,” Tom answered as he sat on the sofa. “So, do you wanna do something while they’re still asleep and the house hasn't fallen down yet?”

Under normal circumstances, Tord wouldn't have refused to do anything with Tom, especially without the witnessing and judgmental eyes of his friends, but he was too exhausted, reaching a point where the dark circles under his eyes had dark circles.

“I'm sorry, _min kjære,_ but if I continue to be awake for one more second I'll faint from sleep. I spent the whole night awake working and didn’t close my eyes for a second.”

Of course, Tom was a little disappointed, because if he could barely get time alone without his friends being inconvenient, being able to spend that time with Tord was even more difficult, but he wouldn’t judge his boyfriend’s needs. He really was a wreck. But Tom wouldn't be Tom if he didn't tease Tord about everything he did.

“Barely makes it home and isolates himself in his room. Typical.”

His boyfriend could be a pain in the ass at times, always complaining and grumbling around like an angry teenager, but that was one of the things Tord loved most about Tom.

“And who said I’m going alone? Do you think you'll stand there sulking on the couch all day? No way.” He took Tom’s hand and pulled him out of the couch, astonishing him with his speed. “Since you complain so much about us not spending any more time together, then we’ll spend more time together, even if it's sleeping!”

Tom tried to pull his hand away from Tord's, but it was being held precisely by his strongest, the metal hand. The bedroom door slammed open, almost making enough noise to wake up the other two inhabitants of the house, and Tom was thrown on the bed, being followed by Tord right after he closed the door and left his prosthetic aside. After all, sleeping with that metal thing under his belly was very uncomfortable, and it could be even worse if he ended up turning his hand on Tom's face, as he tended to do sometimes.

“Tord, I already did all the morning hygiene. I can't sleep again.”

“Doesn't matter. If _you_ won't sleep, then stay and keep me company while _I_ sleep.” He grabbed the smaller one with his good arm, trapping Tom between his body and the pillow. “I may have only one arm, but that doesn't mean you can get rid of me.”

Tom was already aware of that. He knew very well the tricks the Norwegian had up his sleeve, and remembered perfectly how things were when they were forced to live with him for the second time. Nobody could get rid of Tord, even if they wanted to. Not that he wants to get rid of him now. As much of a prick as he may be, Tom liked that rebellious side of him, even more so when they teamed up to challenge Edd's authority in the house and his bizarre ideas.

In the end, Tom gave in and relaxed beside Tord, who, in a few seconds, fell asleep.

It was hard to admit, but he had missed sleeping next to his boyfriend. Even if he wasn't sleeping, he still felt a feeling of comfort being able to watch him. His face didn’t have any wrinkles and was completely relaxed, safe in Tom’s arms, in a place he could watch him as much as he wanted.

Before he could even notice, Tom had fallen asleep beside Tord, his hands very close to his chest.

* * *

Matt was the first to wake up among his friends that afternoon, but that was already the routine. He had to shower early to be more comfortable getting ready. Poor Edd, he wouldn’t have any hot water left to shower.

After spending two hours on hygiene, he went down to the second floor to look for something to eat. The door of Edd's room was open, indicating that he had woken up while Matt was taking a bath, but, strangely, he wasn't anywhere. He had probably gone out for a walk or was in the back garden, but the redhead had more to do than to go after his friend. He was hungry and needed to fill his stomach immediately.

Unfortunately, there was no food in the fridge. Absolutely nothing. Desperate, Matt ran to the back of the house, where, as indicated by his intuition, Edd was, his lips glued to a can of coke.

“Edd, we’re in big trouble!” shouted the redhead, his arms moving in the air desperately.

“Yeah, the fridge is empty, I know. We can go to the grocery store later. We have the whole afternoon to hang out and do nothing, so don't even worry about it.”

Before anyone said anything else, more screams were heard, this time from inside the house.

“Oh, nice one, you made me sleep!”

“I didn't tell you to sleep, I told you to lie down. It's not my fault you’re an easy sleeper, Jehovah!”

Edd's good mood immediately faded and a bitter taste filled his throat, and it wasn't because of the hot coke.

“Now, _that’s_ something to worry about.” He drank the rest of the coke and threw the can away, quickly entering the house, accompanied by Matt, to stop that fight before it became harsher. When it came to those two, dating or not, it was always good to keep them three meters away from each other. “The day has barely begun and you’re already fighting. You gotta be shitting me.”

Tom frowned and crossed his arms, directing his ugly look to Edd.

“The day has barely begun _my ass!_ It's already past two in the afternoon and I lost half of the day because of this son of a bitch,” he accused him, glancing at Tord from the corner of his eyes.

“You know, Tom, there was nobody forcing you to stay.” Tord half-smiled, in the naughty way he knew would make Tom boil in rage. “I was sleeping. You could have left whenever you wanted, but you still stayed.”

Ignoring the comment completely, Tom kept his face closed and turned up his nose, as if he was in the right (he wasn’t).

These two were weird. Nobody would ever discover how their relationship worked. If anyone found out, they deserved a Nobel Prize.

Sighing, Edd forced a smile on his face to pass a feeling of calm and confidence, two things he was far from feeling in the present moment – not with those two throwing tantrums.

“Well, how about we enjoy the good weather and do some shopping? We ate everything we had last night,” he said, looking specifically at Tom, who did nothing but avert his eyes to Tord, who did the same to him.

“Actually, Edd, we're going out for lunch today,” Tord said, pointing to the door with his thumb.

“Alright, then. I just need to find the car keys and we can all go.” 

“Just not to last night’s diner. That place is very unhygienic,” Matt complained, crossing his arms and scrunching up his nose, similar to how Tom had done a few seconds ago.

The couple looked at each other, both parties knowing very well where this was heading: an uncomfortable moment where they would have to be too direct about something.

“Ah, sorry, Edd, but it’s just me and Tom today,” explained Tord in the most uncomfortable tone possible. “We plan to stay out all day. You know... just the two of us.”

A lightbulb lit up in Edd's head when he saw the communist take Tom's hand in his, in an attempt to be more explicit. For a second, he had forgotten that he snooped through Tom's messages last night and saw that they agreed to spend some time alone today. He was so busy in his own thoughts since he woke up that he completely forgot about his friends’ existence.

“Ah, okay. I guess we can go by ourselves, right, Matt?” He turned to the redhead, who nodded with a smile on his face.

“Of course! You two go out, have fun and be a couple. We'll take care of things around here,” he assured them, although everyone knew that the innocent and friendly smile was not very reliable when it came to not destroying the house. However, before anyone could do anything, Tom grabbed Tord's good arm, with the world's most forced smile on his face, and pulled him towards the door.

“Okay, thanks, bye!” he shouted quickly, both of them disappearing from the house without waiting for Edd or Matt’s reaction.

The sound of the car accelerating and disappearing at the end of the street could be heard for a moment, signaling they had already left. Alone at last, the redhead felt free enough to release a relieved sigh and a dreamy smile.

“They are quite a couple, aren't they?” he said – more of a rhetorical question than anything else. 

Matt actually admired the relationship that Tom and Tord had with each other. Even after everything the four of them went through, the messes and even the fights they faced in the first steps of their relationship, they continued to follow through, firm and strong, overcoming any obstacle that was put in their way. They fought often, but it was clear to everyone who saw their relationship that they loved each other more than anything. If there was anyone in that house who deserved a day off from their bizarre adventures, it was those two.

“We’re going after them.”

Matt turned to Edd, surprised. 

“What? Why?” he asked, opening his arms in a mixture of confusion and indignation. How dare Edd interrupt his beautiful daydream with such a bucket of cold water! How rude!

Edd put his hand on his shoulder, looking into his eyes with that typical look that said "Relax, I have an idea.” Matt couldn't tell if he liked where this was going.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love sweet tomtord dynamics so expect to see a lot of that within the story as we move forward. I'm just not really into that much animosity between the two, give me sweet tomtord moments god damnit! I just want my babies being happy together! >:(
> 
> Anyway, there isn't much of a schedule planned for this fic, so I'll just update once in a while depending on how many translated chapters I have left. Hope you're all enjoying so far!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!
> 
> I'm on [Tumblr](https://minu-moni.tumblr.com/) in case y'all wanna chat!


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